MALIBU, Calif. - The West Coast Conference announced its 2014-15 men's basketball schedule today, and Pepperdine will open and close the slate with Wells Fargo PCH Cup contests against rival Loyola Marymount.

With 10 teams in the conference, just like last year, the 18-game league schedule gets an early start. Pepperdine will visit Gersten Pavilion and battle LMU on Monday, December 29. This will be the first time since 2007-08 that the Waves will open the WCC schedule on the road.

Then, the Waves' WCC home opener will take place on Thursday, January 1, against Saint Mary's. That's believed to be the first time Pepperdine will have ever played on New Year's Day. During the first half of the WCC season, the Waves will play four home games, including against Pacific (January 3), Gonzaga (January 15) and Portland (January 17).

Following two straight weeks on the road, the Waves will wrap up the league campaign with five of their final seven contests at home. Those come against Brigham Young (February 5), San Diego (February 7), Santa Clara (February 19), San Francisco (February 21) and LMU (February 28).

The WCC Championships will again be held at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas from March 5-10, 2015.

Pepperdine hopes to finalize and announce its non-conference schedule in the coming weeks. Game times and TV coverage for league games will be announced at a later date.

Last season, Pepperdine went 15-16 overall and took fifth place in the WCC with an 8-10 record. Despite being picked to finish 10th in the conference, the Waves earned their first top-half finish in the standings since 2004. The Waves return three starters and eight letterwinners, including All-WCC first team selection Stacy Davis, a junior forward who averaged team bests of 15.1 points and 7.6 rebounds last season.